AAP members want to head to Varanasi, but can't afford it

By Varun Singh |Posted 08-May-2014

Want to follow in BJP’s footsteps and boost Kejriwal’s UP campaign, but rail tickets are unavailable and plane tickets too costly

As the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prepares a strong campaign in Varanasi, sending hoards of party members to the city, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also wants to replicate the same for their leader Arvind Kejriwal.

However, with railway tickets being unavailable and with flight tickets too expensive, even party leaders are finding it difficult to afford the journey. The waiting list in trains has crossed the 200 mark and direct flight tickets to Varanasi cost nothing less than Rs 10,000.

The BJP claims that almost every top official of the party will be in Varanasi to campaign for Narendra Modi; members of AAP, meanwhile, will not be able to make it. Pics/Getty Images

Mayank Gandhi, executive committee member of AAP and Mumbai North West candidate, confirmed that many members from the party wanted to go and campaign for Kejriwal, who is running against BJP’s Narendra Modi. But they have been forced to stay back.

“There are no train tickets available and flights are unaffordable. People wanted to go, but now they are forced to stay back in Mumbai,” he said. According to Gandhi, many members of the party decided to travel in general compartments of trains so that they could help in their party chief’s campaign.

A source from AAP said, “About a dozen members of the party have left for Varanasi. The rest wanted to leave too, but could not get tickets. The general compartments are usually overcrowded and even stepping inside can be tricky.”

On the other side, while the BJP has refused to provide the exact number of their party members who have left for Varanasi, chief spokesperson of BJP, Niranjan Shetty, said, “People have used their own means of transport to go to Varanasi. Almost every top official of the party will be there.”